Press Release: Open Space Institute and Partners Return Almost 1,400 Acres of Land to Lumbee Tribe

At the request of Open Space Institution (OSI), today's land ceremony will be closed to the public. Pictures will be released at a later date.

Press Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL MARCH 31, 2025

Contact:

Open Space Institute: Siobhan Gallagher Kent - (845) 576-8186; sgallagherkent@osiny.org

Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina: Tasha Oxendine - (910) 522-5185; taoxendine@lumbeetribe.com

Open Space Institute and Partners Return Almost 1,400 Acres of Land to Lumbee Tribe; Tribe will

Protect and Steward Land in Robeson County

Project Secures Critical Cultural and Natural Resources Along the Lumber River

ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (March 31, 2025) – The Open Space Institute (OSI) and Lumbee Tribe of North

Carolina have announced the acquisition of the 1,382-acre Camp Island property near North Carolina’s

southeastern border. OSI acquired the property with funding support from a private family foundation and

a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant facilitated by Ducks Unlimited (DU). OSI has

donated the property, rich with cultural significance and natural resources, to the Lumbee Tribe of North

Carolina, who will steward the forested property in perpetuity as a natural and cultural resource for the

Tribe. OSI and the Lumbee Tribe will celebrate the acquisition in a ceremony on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at

3:30 pm.

The Camp Island project represents the first opportunity to establish a large, protected natural area under

the stewardship of the state’s Lumbee Tribe.

“Properties like Camp Island play a vital role not only in the health of ecosystems, but also in the lives of

the people tied to the land itself,” said Dr. Maria Whitehead, OSI’s Senior Vice President of Land for the

Southeast. “OSI is honored to be part of this effort to preserve culturally significant land, and thanks to our

partners, we have the incredible opportunity to return it to tribal stewardship and care.”

“We are excited to reconnect with this land, which we’ve not been able to access for a very long time,”

said John Lowery, Lumbee Tribal Chairman. “Our people are outdoors people, and the ability to steward

this land for Lumbee and visitors alike is truly special. We are proud to preserve Camp Island for many

years to come.”

The Camp Island property is especially important to the Lumbee Tribe as a cultural site where significant

Indigenous artifacts have been found. The Lumbee Tribe operates several camps where participants

engage in preservation and restoration activities, while deepening an understanding of their cultural

heritage. Protecting Camp Island is a critical step toward imparting these values to future generations.“This gift will give our youth an opportunity to learn about native plants, trees, birds, and local wildlife,”

said Homer Fields, Lumbee Tribal Council Representative (District 14), who represents the Allenton

Community where Camp Island is located. “We’re thrilled about this project.”

“We are truly grateful that OSI is cultivating community through their cultural sensitivities to address our

reconnection to Mother Earth,” said Wendy Moore, Former Lumbee Tribal Council Representative and

Former Chair of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The benefits of the Camp Island project extend beyond the Lumbee Tribe. The property, which was once

managed for wood products, will now be stewarded for forest and species conservation by the Tribe, and

protected in perpetuity by the NAWCA grant agreement and other deed restrictions. It will become part of

a larger network of protected properties in a “green corridor” between the Lumber and Cape Fear river

basins.

Primarily forested wetland, the Camp Island property contains a vast matrix of blackwater swamps that

drain directly into the Lumber River, a state-designated Scenic River that is considered one of North

Carolina’s most pristine recreational assets and home to fish species like the Broadtail Madtom and

Ironcolor Shiner. The Lumber River is known traditionally as the Lumbee River; its name was changed by

state lawmakers in 1809 to reflect its use in timbering operations, but it is still known by the Lumbee

People as the Lumbee River.

With abundant intact forested wetlands, the tract is within a designated Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

Waterfowl Focus Area and Audubon Important Bird Area boasting, among other bird species, Yellow-

throated Warblers, Great Blue and Green Herons, Swallow-tailed Kites, and Wood Storks.

"We're excited to join forces with OSI and the Lumbee Tribe to fund a project that holds tremendous value

for wetlands, wildlife and the community," said Emily Purcell, DU Director, Conservation Programs

Southeast. "Collaboration drives conservation forward, and we're honored to play a role in safeguarding

Camp Island for future generations of the Lumbee Tribe to connect with their ancestral lands."

In addition to being an important site for American Indian history and culture, in addition to natural

resources, the Camp Island property has a long and storied history as a colonial-era British loyalist

encampment, purportedly attacked by a group of the Camden District Regiment militia. In the 1850s,

enslaved people who had escaped established a small community on the property with livestock and

cultivated crops.

About the Open Space Institute

Founded in 1974, the Open Space Institute (OSI) has been a partner in the protection of more than 2.5

million acres along the eastern seaboard from Quebec to Florida. OSI’s Southeast office, established in

Charleston in 2014, has been a partner in the protection of more than 130,000 acres across the

Southeastern United States, the vast majority of which will be open to the public. Visit OSI online at

openspaceinstitute.org/southeast.

About the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, also known as the “People of the Dark Water,” have their homeland in

Southeastern, North Carolina, along the dark waters of the Lumbee river. The ancestors of the Lumbee

have lived here for thousands of years. The Lumbee Tribe Housing complex is located in Pembroke, NorthCarolina. The tribal territory and service area of the Lumbee People includes four counties: Robeson,

Scotland, Hoke, and Cumberland. The Lumbee Tribe is the largest American Indian Tribe east of the

Mississippi River.